BAGHDAD - Finding something to do within the walls of a military base can be challenging, so to become combat ready and promote physical fitness, a Navy officer at Camp Slayer created a running program.

In January, Lt. j.g. Darryl D. Diptee started the Baghdad 500/1,000 mile challenge, and Spc. Faith Strong of the 546th Area Support Medical Company, who is currently assisting with managing the program, said it has been growing in popularity ever since.

Although Diptee, a Jacksonville, Fla., native, then a knowledge management officer with the United States Forces-Iraq was not fond of running, he said he pushed himself to develop a healthy lifestyle and found that recording his miles was a huge motivator.

“After tracking my own miles, I realized that I could hit 1,000 miles in 12 months,” said Diptee.

Diptee originally created the 500/1,000 mile challenge to motivate others to improve their physical fitness, and the concept became viral.

“The challenge gave me one more reason to stay active, to get to the gym and run,” said New York City native Staff Sgt. Christopher T. Reed, a shift leader with the 546th ASMC.

Diptee redeployed to Florida in August, but Strong and Reed are
keeping the challenge going by forwarding the mileage tracker to all those who are interested.

“A large number of participants have shown interest in the challenge
since we took over in August,” Reed said.

The miles don’t have to be from running. Miles from biking, using the elliptical machine or walking can be used toward finishing the challenge, so everyone can do it, Strong said. The tracker calculates a person’s progress based on their desired goal and is honor-based. All they have to do is put in their miles.

Having a solid goal to work toward and being able to view your progress over time is a good selling point for many, said Diptee.

More than 1,000 service members and civilians have embraced the challenge, some losing as much as 50 pounds of body fat. A conservative estimate shows 10,000 pounds of combined body fat was burned by all who participated, said Diptee.

Along with forwarding the tracker, Strong and Reed keep up with T-shirt orders. The T-shirts are sold for $15 and a portion of the proceeds are donated to the Iraqi Boy and Girl Scouts. “We just put in an order of about 200 T-shirts,” said Reed.

More than $3,000 has been raised for the organization so far, Diptee said.

Participants of the challenge do not receive an award or certificate. The reward, Strong said, is the satisfaction of knowing that you were motivated enough to complete all those miles.